


You Only Live Once

by OliverHasNoCompany



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Freeform, Gay, Gay Keith (Voltron), How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Multi, Slow Burn, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-05-02 22:25:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14554833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliverHasNoCompany/pseuds/OliverHasNoCompany
Summary: Lance has been able to see ghosts since his mother died when he was five. He is used to going through his day, talking and laughing with the spirits... this is until he comes across a familiar face that changes his entire perspective.





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is short and just to set up the plot. i promise the actual chapter will be longer! ;)

“1971-2006. BELOVED WIFE AND MOTHER, ROSITA MCCLAIN.” Lance sighed as he read his mother's tombstone. 

Rosita had been a beautiful woman. She was Cuban with dark brown hair and eyes that matched. Everybody wanted to date her in high school, but she was stubborn. She would be asked out by multiple guys throughout her life, refusing all but one. That exception was Lance's father, Jaymes McClain. From there, Rosita’s life skyrocketed. She became a successful realtor and made a family. Lance was the third child of five total, but his mother always made him feel just as important as the others.

Then… the accident happened. A drunk driver on the wrong side of road. Lance's mother and the driver were both killed on impact. Its sad how someone so amazing would be taken away by something so idiotic and simple. All the time spent building that relationship with his mother seemed useless in the grand scheme of things. 

By the time the funeral came around, Lance had already discovered his new “powers”. He knew, at the age of five, that his mother was gone and would not be coming back, so when he saw his mother standing at the end of his bed one morning, he knew something was going on. He was the only one who didn't cry at the funeral. 


	2. Did You Hear?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters will get longer as the plot progresses!

“Lance.” Rosita stood next to her son and made a sorry attempt at waking him up from school. His alarm has been going off for the last ten minutes. “LANCE!” 

He startled awake at the noise.

“I'M AWAKE.” Rosita gave a disappointed look. 

“Your alarm has been blaring for the past ten minutes or so.” She motions to the block behind her on Lances desk that, still, is going off. 

“Why didn’t you shake me awake?” 

“Lance, you know that I can’t touch you or anything for that matter.” Lance laughs as he reaches to turn off his alarm. 

“Did I know that?” 

 

~<:>~

 

School was always easy for Lance, despite what everyone believes. His senior year was no exception. He purposely took easy classes so he could breeze through his last year, but one of the classes he chose was proving to be quite a challenge. His creative writing teacher never liked what Lance turned in. The best grade he  has received was a D- on a poetry assignment. As much as he hated the class, a new one would be too much of a pain. His sixth period would have to remain a living hell. 

“Did you hear the news?” Allura, Lances best friend, whisper-shouts as she sits down next to him. She is the only good thing he got out of this creative writing class. 

“Hm? What happened?” 

“Some kid killed himself in the bathroom earlier today.” Lance froze. Why did death always seem to surround him? “I guess he had a bunch of problems before this. Hunk told me that he had slit his wrists, but Lotor had said that he overdosed. I guess it doesn't matter.” She paused for a minute. “How was your day?” Hesitating for only a moment, Lance replied with a smile and as much enthusiasm he would muster. 

“Good. You?” As always, Allura plunges into a full monologue about how she and Lotor are still on and off and about how she was going on a double date with Hunk and his girlfriend, Shay. God, Lance hated how his friends only talked and never listened. I guess that's what his mom was there for. All through the day, she followed Lance. She rarely left him. 

“So. What do you think I should do?” Allura had just asked my opinion on the idea of her asking Lotor to the Sadie Hawkins dance coming up soon.

“Do what you want, Hon.” She just kept on smiling. Lance looked around the room to try and find his mother; see if she had any advise on how to deal with this situation, but she was nowhere to be seen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!


	3. There are Rules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I will try to update either every other Wednesday or Saturday (?) 
> 
> Also! Sorry these chapters are so freaki'n short! They look longer on my google doc.

The sixth-period bell rang as lance was stuffing his composition book into his backpack. His mother still hasn't returned, and he was getting worried. Had she found something interesting? Lance walks around the corridors of his school trying to see if his mother was nowhere in sight. He checked the bathrooms (Yes, both of them), the library, the computer lab, and the cafeteria. He still came up empty. 

 

It felt weird for Lance to walk home alone. He was so used to his mother by his side. He looked around for a friendly face. He would see regular people and ghosts. Over the years of having this ability, Lance has learned that there are many differences between ghosts and humans. The first, and most noticeable, is that they can’t touch humans… or anything for that matter. The ghost would simply float through the object or person as if they weren’t there. The ghost can still see, smell, and hear everything going on around them, but they wouldn't interact or take part in it. The second pinpointer is that ghosts have a glow that illuminates them. It makes them look angelic and soft. Lance has made it a habit to converse with ghosts as little as possible. Most ghosts don’t know that he can talk to them anyways. On the rare occasions he has talked to one, he learned that all spirits are created because they haven't fulfilled their calling on earth yet. The majority of people don’t become ghosts. Rosita had helped explain to lance that “ _ Not everyone has unfinished business. Some come back as ghosts and don’t even know what they are coming back for.”  _ As she put it, a soul could not rest until it moved on to the afterlife, whether it was heaven, hell, reincarnation, or just eternal darkness. 

 

By the time Lance got home, he was beginning to worry about what happened to his mom. It had been two hours since he had last seen her. Not wanting to worry his father, he didn't go out to look for her that night.

 

~<:>~

 

When Lance woke up, he scanned the room for his mother, but she was, again, nowhere to be seen. 

“Knock, Knock,” lances oldest sister, Veronica popped her head into the room. “Dad made breakfast. Come get some before the little ones go at it.” She winked and left as quickly as she came. 

 

This was going to be a long day. 


	4. My Son

“There you are!” Lance slammed his locker shut as Allura jumped beside him. “You will never guess what happened to me today!” She continued to go on and on about her relationship with Lotor… again. That was all she talked about anymore. “And then he kissed me! Can you believe that! He hadn’t done that in SO long!” Allura was jumping up and down, trying her best to keep Lance's attention. As always, Lance just tried to get through. The bell rang just as Allura was starting on another topic. “See you later, Lance!” with that, she just skipped away. 

 

First-period drama was draining, to say the least. Mr. McKinley was a very… passionate man. He cared. So when Lance spotted his mother at the door of the classroom, he was reluctant to interrupt the ongoing speech. Given the circumstances, he did anyway. 

 

“Lance!” he heard his mother whisper-yell. Lance slowly raised his hand, praying silently that Mr. McKinley will see him. 

“McClain,” Mr. McKinley looks Lance's way with a disapproving glare. “What do you need?” He hesitates for a second but soon regains his composure. 

“May I use the restroom, sir?” He nods and continues his speech. Lance makes his way across the room to the door his mother is standing outside of. He turns the corner to find nobody there. He looks along the hallway. Something blue catches his eye. He walks down the hallway a little further. His mother was pacing back and forth. 

 

Here's the thing: Rosita McClain has never been a nervous person. She always had confidence in everything she did. So for Lance to see his mother pacing with a worried expression, made him worry as well. 

 

As soon as his mother spotted him, she ran up to him. Something about the glow that surrounded her seemed off… It was somehow softer. 

“Lance! My son,” Rosita started. “You need to know that I love you very much, but-but…” She stopped suddenly. 

“Mama! What is it? Are  you okay?” Rosita nodded, struggling to stay standing.

“My time as a spirit is over. It is time for me to pass over.” The hurt in Rosita’s eyes was real and very prevalent. 

“B-but…” Lance couldn’t even utter a single word. The thought of his mother not being around him anymore was not easy to stomach. The woman who had never left his side- The mother that was always there for him would really and truly be no more. Lance would hear himself sobbing as his mother became less and less apparent. 

“I love you, my son…” That was the last sentence Rosita McClain said. 

**Author's Note:**

> Suggestions and comments are welcomed and encouraged! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
